wrap ur HD in a couple layers of plastic wrap. (or just enough so that ice and moisture wont get in)
put it in a freezer safe plastic bag
put in frig overnight for 8+ hours
take it out and run it

this WON'T be a permanent fix tho, might just last a couple hours, enough for ur friend to back up everything. Of course u can freeze it again but i havn't done it so im not really sure how good it will be after u freeze too many times. but if its already damaged then theres nothing worse u can do , unless ur planning on doing the controller replacement way that the other ppl are saying

I've done this before, it actually works.... I was going to post it, then I saw you beat me Jack .

Another way is dropping the dead HDD from about 12-15" onto a hard surface (wood table or similar) so it hits it on the flat side. I've never personally done this, but I have seen it work twice when other people have done it.

I would try the freezer method first though. It should buy you enough time to backup some or all of the data.

I've done this before, it actually works.... I was going to post it, then I saw you beat me Jack .

Another way is dropping the dead HDD from about 12-15" onto a hard surface (wood table or similar) so it hits it on the flat side. I've never personally done this, but I have seen it work twice when other people have done it.

I would try the freezer method first though. It should buy you enough time to backup some or all of the data.

I once tried to repair a drive that was clicking by running it with the cover off - whenever the heads moved to the outer edge and got stuck, I gave them a gently nudge in the right direction with the tip of a pen.

If every DIY atempt fails, the tough (and expensive) way is for your freind to bring it to one of the recovery specialists as mentioned. If it's a hardware failiure in the moving parts, a good chance to rescue it is this. Get another disc of the axact samt kind. Have that company transplant the storageplates into the new(er) drive. The data is still on the plates. It's just a matter of getting to it! But it might be really expensive.